Will Mexico become a Big Player in the International Cannabis Market?

Will Mexico become a Big Player in the International Cannabis Market?

I’ve been analyzing and watching the cannabis movement for many years now. I’ve seen how the industry crawled out of a deep dark hole known as prohibition and establish itself as a legitimate economic force. Now, the United States has more than 33 states with some sort of cannabis legislation on the books, 10 of them with recreational frameworks.

No longer can people deny that cannabis will be legal. I guess, if enough hippies repeat a phrase for a few decades…it happens.

The cannabis industry is on the verge of going international. I’m talking about trucks, ships and planes hauling mass amount of cannabis from one country to another.

Canada, this year legalized marijuana for adult uses. This is the first “industrialized” nation to do so setting a precedent for the rest of the world. Sure, Uruguay was first to legalize…but Canada’s importance within the global community allows other nations to follow suit.

Since Canada legalized, we have seen several cannabis movements occur throughout the world. However, while everyone was focused on Canada…Mexico just went ahead and legalized it without any fuss.

How did Mexico Legalize Marijuana?

Unlike the US or Canada, Mexicans didn’t vote on the legalization of cannabis. They went through the courts. You see, Mexico has one of the most liberal constitutions in the world. Within the constitution you have the “right to exercise your personality and identity”. It’s a constitutional right every citizen has.

This means, that if your personality as a “stoner” is a part of who you are, it’s unconstitutional to prohibit you from exercising your identity.

Right at the half way marker of 2018, the Supreme Court in Mexico voted for the fifth time in favor of a cannabis case, and ruled that the prohibition of cannabis is unconstitutional. As a result, the law states that when the Supreme Court votes five times in favor of a particular thing, it has to become law.

Since then, the Foreign Secretary was spearheaded with the legalization effort. It’s her job to set up the framework of cultivation, sales, production, testing and so forth.

As you can see, Mexico is not only legalizing it for personal consumption, they are attempting to implement a complete framework to sustain industry.

They have already sent people to speak with Canadian Officials about their legalization framework and plan on doing the same with Uruguayan officials and representatives of a few states in the US. It seems that Mexico is studying different models with the hopes of creating a cohesive framework that can be implemented on a national scale.

If this is the case, then Mexico might become one of the most important players within the international cannabis market.

Why does Mexico Matter?

One of the things you frequently hear about right after a country or a state legalizes marijuana, there are always shortages.

It happened in Canada, and it will happen in the US too. There is a period where novelty buying goes through the roof. The surplus of cannabis runs dry and there are shortages.

One of the major problems with supply in the US and Canada is that they have a high labor cost. It’s far more expensive for a company to grow an acre of Hemp in the US and in Canada than it is to grow it in Mexico. This has always been the biggest advantage that Mexico has as a participant in the Tri-Nation Economy.

If Mexico goes ahead and sets up a framework that allows them to turn up production efforts and become a major supplier of raw materials to US and Canadian companies, everybody wins.

It’s a win for the consumer because the retail price of products will become highly cost efficient. It will be a win for the company because their materials are also cheaper, meaning they can focus more on R & D and scaling up their operations. It will be a win for Mexico because they will have a crop that can be grown all year around with a cheap labor cost.

The United States, Canada and Mexico could very well become the major shareholders in the global cannabis market, and seeing that we’re talking about nearly a 100-billion-dollar market (Hemp, CBD, Recreational, Medical compounded)…that’s a win for everyone.

What is to come?

It is believed that Mexico will be ready to roll out their framework within the first six months of 2019. The US, by November could also end the federalism surrounding cannabis as there are plenty of support and bills floating around that indicates its possibility.

Once this occurs, I predict it will take about 36 months for the full force of the cannabis industry to gain enough momentum that the world will be changed forever. We’re living in some exciting times folks. I’ll keep you guys in the loop about any and all of the latest developments.